Just weeks ago, we reported that the College Sports Commission (CSC) would be ramping up investigations into unreported third-party NIL agreements. The CSC has since made good on that promise. On January 30, The Athletic reported that Louisiana State University’s (LSU) athletic director, Verge Ausberry, received an email from the CSC’s head of investigations, Katie B. Medearis, informing the institution that they were under investigation regarding potential failure to report multiple third-party NIL deals.  

Ausberry received the CSC’s email on January 15, which represented the tail-end of an active football transfer portal window f

or LSU. However, The Athletic has reported that the investigation is not related to the football program. While this LSU investigation represents the first known investigation by the CSC, a CSC spokesperson stated that the commission “has reached out to several schools to inform them of investigations into unreported NIL deals.”

During the window of this year’s football transfer portal, the CSC issued additional guidance, aimed particularly at deals between a school’s multimedia rights (MMR) partners and student-athletes. This guidance required disclosure of contracts between student-athletes and MMR partners, even if the MMR partner intended to find other sponsors to pay for and activate the NIL. It is unclear whether the investigations initiated at LSU or the other schools notified by the CSC relate to unreported MMR agreements.

On February 2, CBS reported that LSU had resolved its inquiry with the CSC and that no disciplinary action would be taken against the institution.